Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat accumulates to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health. Medical practitioners have explored various surgical and non-surgical procedures for obesity management. Current medical methods for obesity treatment include surgery, gastric banding, intragastric balloons, and other related procedures.
A well-explored surgical technique for obesity treatment includes gastric bypass, a procedure that creates a malabsorptive state in the patient by reducing the size of the stomach and bypassing a portion of the small intestine. Another surgical procedure, gastric bypass Roux-en-Y and staples, reduces the capacity of the stomach by creating a smaller stomach pouch. Although these procedures are effective, they posses some disadvantages, such as “dumping syndrome”, where the stomach contents are literally “dumped” rapidly into the small intestine, which may lead to nausea, weakness, sweating, faintness, and diarrhea.
Next to surgical methods, a patient may choose less invasive methods to lose weight. Gastric banding, for example, employs a gastric band, placed around the top portion of the stomach to restrict the amount of food that the patient can consume at one time. Unlike surgical procedures discussed above, gastric banding may be performed using minimally invasive techniques, and it does not require cutting or removal of part of the digestive system.
Another example of a non-surgical, non-pharmaceutical aid in the treatment of obesity is the Intra Gastric Balloon (IGB) system. In this treatment procedure, a surgeon inserts an empty balloon into a patient's stomach and then inflates the balloon with either sterile saline or air. After inflation, the expanded balloon cannot pass into the bowel, so it remains within the stomach. The inflated balloon occupies a large portion stomach volume producing a feeling of fullness even when the patient eats a small amount of food.
The conventional procedures noted above show positive results, but each method can result in harmful side effects and complications. The Intra-gastric balloon for instance, may cause obstruction within the intestine. For example, the balloon may become situated at the pylorus or within the small intestine. Other major complications reported through minimally invasive techniques of obesity management include—productive burping, gastritis, or slippage of an implanted gastric band, leading to inefficient obesity management.
Thus, a device that provides better obesity management is desirable.